Protests & Uprisings

Overview The public focused most closely last week on two interrelated news stories – the nation’s struggling economy and the anti-Wall Street protests that have now spread far beyond their beginnings in New York City. Two-in-ten (20%) say their top story was reports about the condition of the U.S. economy. That’s about the same as […]

For more debate on Occupy Wall Street click here. The American public is beginning to take notice of the “Occupy movement.” The Pew Research Center’s polling this week finds a growing number of people paying attention to news about the movement. And the Gallup Poll found that among the minority of its respondents who are […]

In an analysis in the New York Times, Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut writes that the American public is beginning to take notice of the "Occupy movement." Polling this week finds a growing number of people paying attention to news about the movement.

With more and more partisans choosing up sides on the issue, the Occupy Wall Street protests continued to fuel economic coverage last week. Mitt Romney took front and center in the 2012 presidential campaign, and the unraveling of an Iranian plot on U.S. soil raised more questions than answers.

Overview Americans continued to closely track news about the nation’s struggling economy last week, and paid only modest attention to a fast- growing media story – the anti-Wall Street protests in New York and other cities. About a quarter (27%) say news about the condition of the U.S. economy was their top story, while just […]

After several weeks of attracting modest attention, the protests in New York and beyond emerged as a major newsmaker last week. Meanwhile, 2012 campaign coverage reached its high point to date, a high-profile murder case was resolved, and a world infatuated with Apple technology mourned the death of the man behind it all.

Support for democracy is high throughout much of the Middle East, but the Arab Spring has not led to an improvement in America’s image in the region. Instead, in key Arab nations and in other predominantly Muslim countries, views of the U.S. remain negative. On balance, extremist groups also viewed negatively, although they receive significant levels of support in some countries.

Egyptians of all ages, from all walks of life, and parts of the country continue to celebrate the dramatic political changes their nation has undergone. Overwhelmingly, they say it is good that former president Hosni Mubarak is gone. Nearly two-in-three are satisfied with the way things are going in Egypt, and most are optimistic about their country’s future.

Judging the Chinese appetite for democracy is not easy, but polling suggests China may not be ripe for the kind of uprisings seen throughout the Middle East.

Pro-democracy movements in Tunisia and Egypt recall the wave of democratization that took place two decades ago in Eastern Europe. The experience of Eastern Europe is a useful reminder that public enthusiasm for democracy is not guaranteed as political change extends over years and decades.